Couple who spent morning at dog festival later left Labrador to die in locked car at mall, police say

York Regional Police have charged two people in relation to the death of a dog that was left unattended in a parked car Sunday.

The one-year-old Labrador was locked inside a car in the Vaughan Mills Mall parking lot during 28 C heat that felt like 34 C with humidity around 2 p.m. Sunday. The temperature inside the vehicle would likely have been much higher.

Matthieu Arbour, 21, and Angele Lazurko, 20, have been charged with causing unnecessary suffering to an animal. They were released and are due in a Newmarket, Ont., court July 10.

Mall security were frantically trying to feed the dog water through a small opening in the window, until firefighters arrived and smashed their way in.

“They could see the dog was deteriorating quickly,” said Insp. Shelley Rogers, who was one of the responding officers Sunday. “I saw the dog. It wasn’t nice.”

The dog died on scene. Officers arrested the owner and her boyfriend when they returned to the car around 3 p.m., Insp. Rogers said.

She said Mr. Arbour and Ms. Lazurko had been in the mall since noon.

“They were obviously dumbfounded when they came out and found out their dog was dead,” said Insp. Rogers, adding the two had attended Toronto’s Woofstock festival for dogs before stopping at the mall en route to their home near Sudbury.

York Police have sent the body of the dog to the University of Guelph to determine the cause of death.

“Even if you’re not a dog lover, it’s sad,” said Insp. Rogers, who owns two dogs herself. Officers left the Vaughan shopping centre Sunday only to be called to another situation where a dog was reportedly left alone in a car, though the vehicle was gone by the time police arrived.

On Monday, Toronto Police responded to a similar situation at Sherway Gardens, where they rescued a Chihuahua from a car. Outdoor temperatures felt like 32 C at the time of the incident around 12:30 p.m. Monday. Police say the dog was in the car for over an hour. Animal services workers assisted officers in the parking lot, who had difficulty retrieving the spooked five-pound animal from inside the car.

Toronto Police Const. Tony Vella said the woman faces a $260 fine for failure to provide water to a pet, in violation of a city bylaw. The pet was taken to a nearby animal shelter and was returned to the woman shortly afterward.

“We don’t have authority to withhold the dog, unless the police were able get some kind of interim custody order from the courts,” said Toronto animal services supervisor Mary Lou Leiher.